Bidur Pokharel shields himself from the rain as he bikes in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Feb. 26. / Christopher Chung, AP

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Heavy rain and snow are forecast to wallop California Friday and Saturday, helping a bone-dry state enduring a punishing drought but threatening foothills communities with mudslides.

The National Weather Service reports that the storm might dump the most rain on Southern California in nearly two years.

"Rainfall totals will be quite impressive, ranging from 1-3 inches across the coasts and valley to 3-6 inches in the foothills and mountains," the weather service said. Rain could dampen weekend festivities associated with the Academy Awards, though the worst of the rain could be over before the red carpet fun Sunday night.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for 1,000 homes in two foothills suburbs east of Los Angeles in advance of the storm.

The cities of Glendora and Azusa, about 25 miles northeast of Los Angeles, issued the orders at midday Thursday for homes that could be endangered by debris flows from nearly 2,000 acres of steep mountain slopes. Those towns sit at the foot of the steep San Gabriel Mountains, where a wildfire stripped nearly 2,000 acres of vegetation last month, meaning flowing water could pose a danger.

As of Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal website, 94.56% of the state is in a drought, including 26.21% in "exceptional" drought, the worst category.

The expected rain and snow follow a weak storm that moved into the region late Wednesday from Northern California, bringing up to an inch of rain in drought-stricken coastal and valley areas of Los Angeles County and more in the mountains. About an inch of rain fell earlier around the San Francisco Bay Area.

The city of Glendora provided thousands of sandbags to residents.

"I'd like to stay, but I'm prepared to do whatever the Fire Department asks us to do," Mary Waldusky said as volunteers lined sandbags along her foothill neighborhood. "We're ready to evacuate with our daughters."

The rain may not help much in central and Northern California. Joe Del Bosque's farm in Firebaugh, Calif., in the state's San Joaquin Valley got about half an inch of rain Wednesday. "It¹s beautiful that it's raining, but it¹s not going to do anything for us," he said.

The storms won¹t do much toward refilling reservoirs that are "two years behind," Del Bosque said.

There is some good news in higher elevations. AccuWeather predicted heavy snow for the mountains; several feet are possible in the Sierra Nevada through Saturday.

As of Wednesday, "the California Department of Water Resources reported that the Sierra Nevada snowpack contained an average of 5 inches of liquid, just 22% of the late-February normal," according to Brad Rippey, author of this week's Drought Monitor.

The same storm will move across the country over the weekend and could bring snow, ice and rain to much of the central and eastern USA by Sunday and Monday.